OKC Thunder: Suns rout offset by Theo Maledon’s historic night

There are days when you hit the snooze button one too many times and spend the rest of the day feeling like your constantly 10 minutes behind? Well, the OKC Thunder had a night like that Friday in their 140-103 rout at the hands of the Phoenix Suns.

Less than halfway into the first quarter the Suns were up by 15 points and by the end of the frame held a 30 point lead. The game had three quarters left to play and was already over with the Suns holding a 43-13 advantage.

On most nights this Thunder crew will claw and fight regardless of who suits up. But getting stuck in that deep of a hole against the second-best team in the association (record-wise) was a losing proposition.

OKC Thunder Rookie Maledon sparkles in spite of the loss

Granted, there aren’t many tears being shed in Thunder Nation. While this team has provided spirited contests against elite clubs and won more than expected the primary goal is to be losing at a rate that increases the club’s lottery positioning.

Another key objective is the development of the youthful assets on the club and one player who is doing that at an accelerated rate is rookie Theo Maledon.

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With Al Horford, a healthy scratch for the remainder of the season as well as a trio of the youthful core out its affording opportunity, increased playing time, and role expansion. Rookie point guard Maledon is specifically affected given guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, and Ty Jerome are all sidelined.

In 42 games, Maledon has reached double-figure scoring 19 times. It’s telling that nine of those double-digit efforts have occurred in the last 11 games. Prior to Friday, his best career scoring efforts occurred against Brooklyn (January 29th) and the Celtics (March 27th). In those matches he scored 24 and 22 points respectively;

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On Friday, in the midst of this rout by the Suns, Maledon obliterated that mark with 33 points. His highly efficient shooting splits are also telling.

Case in point, he shot 10 of 18 from the field, 5 of 7 from deep, and 8 of 10  from the charity stripe. A factor that gains credence when you consider he missed his first four shot attempts.

The Frenchman also entered the franchise history books. Maledon joins Russell Westbrook as the only rookie to score 30 or more points and is one off the Westbrook high in a Thunder rookie campaign of 34 points.

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In addition, Aleksej Pokusevski and Maledon are the first rookie duo to each score 20 points or more in a match.

Let’s not forget, Maledon is still just 19 years old. Each outing he’s demonstrating growth, however, the big uptick is coming from his personal offense. From the start, Theo has displayed an IQ and savvy of a veteran guard and he was unselfish almost to a fault. With SGA and Lu out he’s having to be more aggressive and integrate his own shot more.

In recent games, Moses Brown, Isaiah Roby, or Aleksej Pokusevski had big nights. That Maledon recognized others were cold and the need for a spark is something the Point God he was competing against would do.

Sure losing by 37 points kind of sucks. Yet, whether the Thunder lose by one point or 100 isn’t the point. The more losses accumulated the greater potential for OKC to improve its draft position.

That the loss is coming with Maledon setting new career highs is all gravy!